Agree somewhat. I think that the average USA citizen is an idiot. But I don't think welfare should come into play. Those people can't afford TVs after all ;-)
You'd think so, but go to the ghetto and they all have satellite dishes.
Discovery is dogshit now for sure. I remember when the whole "shark in Lake Ontario" went down. Kingston Police weren't too impressed with that stunt after fielding numerous calls from concerned citizens.
The shift happened in around 2008 with the Recession and the Writer's Guild Strike. Ad revenues plummeted and have remained soft ever since. There just isn't a desire to produce higher budget niche programming anymore.
It's simply a case that reality TV is a lot cheaper than scripted television. Cuts out the unionized writers and actors from the equation. I remember reading that Honey Boo Boo's family doesn't get paid very much. Probably the case with all the other crap shows on there. Production crews are probably quite small as well. A lot of those shows use a two or even one camera setup. They require minimal editing. Which is why they can be produced so quickly.
Something like Megalodon appeals to the lowest common denominator. That program only served one purpose, to get people talking about Discovery.